deCODE Complete
Analyzes risk factors for more than fifty common diseases and several traits, including all of those for which deCODEhealth offers individual disease tests. deCODE Complete focuses on medical conditions that can either be better prevented through altered lifestyle or that have better treatment outcomes if detected early. It is the most comprehensive genetic scan available for evaluating risk of common diseases. It is not generally reimbursable.
Diseases and conditions covered by the deCODE Complete Scan:
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, ABO Blood Types, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Alcohol Flush Reaction, Alzheimer’s Disease, Asthma, Atrial Fibrillation, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Bitter Taste Perception, Bladder Cancer, Brain Aneurysm, Brain Cancer-Glioma, Breast Cancer, Celiac Disease, Chronic Kidney Disease, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Clopidogrel Response, Colorectal Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Essential Tremor, Exfoliation Glaucoma, Eye Color, Gallstones, Gout, Heart Attack, Hemochromatosis, Hypertension, Kidney Stones, Lactose Intolerance, Lung Cancer, Male Pattern Baldness, Multiple Sclerosis, Nicotine Dependence, Obesity, Ovarian Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Prostate Cancer, Psoriasis, Restless Legs Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Statin Induced Myopathy, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Testicular Cancer, Thyroid Cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, Ulcerative Colitis, Venous Thromboembolism, Warfarin Metabolism.
ABO blood types
While ABO blood types are 100% genetically inherited, the environment seems to play a role in determining which blood types in a population will be passed on more frequently to the next generation.
ABO blood types are genetically determined
Antigens on the surface of red blood cell determine your patients’ ABO blood type
There are four different ABO blood types, named A, B, O and AB. The ABO blood type depends on which kind of glycoprotein or antigen is found on the outside of your blood cells. These glycoproteins come in three forms and are referred to as A, B and O.
A gene on chromosome 9 determines your patients’ ABO blood type
The gene that determines your patients’ ABO blood type is found on chromosome 9 and is called ABO glycosyltransferase. In the simplest terms, this gene may be said to come in three different forms, that is, it has three different alleles. These alleles are also named A, B and O, because each is responsible for the production of its namesake glycoprotein (antigen). It is therefore the combination of alleles that they inherited from their parents that determines which glycoproteins are found on their blood cells and thereby their ABO blood type.
The deCODE Complete Scan identifies which combination of the three ABO alleles are carried on chromosome 9 and therefore which blood type they are likely to have. At the present time, sufficient predictive data is only available for customers of European ancestry.
Please note that the results of the deCODE Complete Scan cannot replace a traditional ABO blood typing test that is used for critical medical procedures such as blood transfusion or organ transplantation. What we provide here is a prediction of your patients’ ABO blood type based on the genetic variants included in the deCODE Complete Scan.
Evolutionary history and global distribution of blood types
While ABO blood types are 100% genetically inherited, the environment seems to play a role in determining which blood types in a population will be passed on more frequently to the next generation. This is mainly the result of natural selection. Specific ABO blood types are thought to be linked with increased or decreased susceptibility to particular diseases. For instance, individuals with type A blood are at a somewhat higher risk of contracting smallpox and developing cancer of the esophagus, pancreas, and stomach. People of type O may be at a higher risk for contracting cholera and plague, as well as developing duodenal and peptic ulcers. Some research suggests that blood of type O is especially tasty to mosquitoes, which could be a significant factor in the contraction of malaria.
In this way, ABO blood group antigens appear to have been important throughout our evolution, because the frequencies of different ABO blood types vary among different populations, suggesting that particular blood types may have conferred selective advantages in the past (for example resistance against an infectious disease).
ABO blood type distribution is consistent with migrations of populations
Some evolutionary biologists theorize that the A allele evolved earliest, followed by O and then B. This chronology accounts for the percentage of people worldwide with each blood type. It is also consistent with the accepted patterns of early population movements and varying prevalent blood types in different parts of the world: for instance, B is very common in populations of Asian descent, but rare in populations of Western European descent. (See population frequencies of ABO blood groups).
This content was last reviewed on February 21, 2011.